


How to Fall in Love and Hide Your Relationship so Your Dads' Don't Kill Each Other

by WorldofWizards (LetterJumble)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Canon Compliant, Harry Potter Next Generation, Secret Relationship, Sexuality Crisis, mostly fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-18
Updated: 2017-03-07
Packaged: 2018-09-25 10:02:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9814532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LetterJumble/pseuds/WorldofWizards
Summary: Follow Albus as he realizes maybe he kind of does like Scorpius. As they fall in love, fail at hiding their relationships from the extensive Weasley broad, and try really hard to keep parents from death and Azkaban.





	1. 4th Year

After the disaster and potential destroyer of the wizarding world that was the first half of fourth year, Albus and Scorpius decided to make some changes. 

Well, it was mostly Scorpius that decided to make some changes. Albus was just kind of, there, at first. 

About a month after the end of the disaster that was the beginning of 4th year, Albus and Scorpius were sitting in their common room, doing very little work on whatever essay they claimed they were working on. This was because Scorpius had already finished and Albus didn’t want to do it. 

“We are going to join a club.”

“What?” Albus looked up from where he had read the same line in his textbook fifteen times. Scorpius had a sly grin on his face.

“A club. We are going to join a club, we are going to make some more friends, and we are going to have some nice fun times this Hogwarts year. Hogwarts, best years of our lives they say! Now, me and you, we’ve had a great time Albus, but we should do more.”

“I think we have different definitions of a great time?”

Scorpius ignored him. “We’ll join together of course, a club would be rather dull without you, but a club nonetheless. It will be magnificent. Which would you like to join?”

“Um.” Albus sighed, because Scorpius was in that mood, the one where they were going to join a club whether he wanted to or not. “Not an academic club.” He finally got out.

“Great! There’s gobstones, which is technically for 1st-3rd years, but Mrs. Finch-Fletchley is really chill and all.”

Albus sighed dramatically. “Firstly, we’re trying to build our reputation, joining the club for eleven and twelve year olds probably isn’t it. Second, we dropped Muggle Studies after the mandatory second year class, so why would she care, and thirdly, well thirdly, I can’t believe they let an actual muggle into the school!”

“Her brother went to school with our parents.”

“Whatever Score, stop always being practical.”

“We can join Flitwick's frog choir. They have some excellent harmonies.”

“I can’t sing.”

Scorpius groaned and threw a pillow at Albus. “You are an insufferable git sometimes.”

Albus threw the pillow right back and rolled his eyes. “Fine, we can Longbottom’s Art Club.”

“Ah yes! The Creevey Memorial Arts Room! I’ve never been in there but it is supposed to be magnificently stocked. They have everything apparently. I wonder what I shall do. I did try some watercolor as a child with my mother, but it was never my forte. Perhaps acrylic, or photography, or clay.” Scorpius rambled on and on and Albus just grinned, because maybe, he could tolerate art club. 

 ************************************************************************************************************

They tolerated art club just fine. It went something like this: 

Art club was majority Hufflepuffs. Second in numbers were the Ravenclaws, who recognized art’s stress relief properties, something highly needed for them. Third was Gryffindor, because it wasn’t always brave and bold and visible. Then came Slytherins, because it was rather plebian, and, at Hogwarts, a bit too Muggle. Before Albus and Scorpius, one second-year girl who drew quietly in the corner, and one hulking sixth year who made clay bowls, of all things, represented the Slytherins. 

The first time they went into the room, three students in front of canvases waved them over. There were two Hufflepuff girls and a Ravenclaw boy. 

“Hey, you two are in some of our classes.” Scorpius smiled at them and Albus tried to figure out exactly which two he was referring to. 

“Ebba Hobday, 4th year Hufflepuff.” The brown haired girl stuck out her hand, and they both shook it. “This is Avis Pimpleback, 3rd year, and Fergus O’Higgins, 4th year Ravenclaw.” Then they were nice. In fact, they were nice to them again when Albus and Scorpius came back. So then, Albus and Scorpius had some friends. 

 ************************************************************************************************************

In mid- January the next exciting thing happened, a week before their game against Ravenclaw. A Slytherin chaser managed to smash 4 bones in his body during a rough practice. 

“We are going to tryouts!” Scorpius actually bounced up and down on Albus’s bed.

“No.”

“Come on. I told you I’ve been practicing more with my Dad. I know you don't have one single Weasley get together that doesn’t involve a pick-up Quidditch game. You’re fine on a broom. Try out with me!”

“You just want to impress Rose.”

“So what! She looked at me just last month. We’re making progress. But also, I like to fly.”

“So you try out.”

“But Albus, I need you there.”

Albus pulled his pillow over his head.

“Please Albus.” 

“Fine.”

Scorpius made reserve for every position, a role they hadn’t had previously since they needed tryouts for one injured player. All the professors made sure they now had a person that could be subbed in, and that was Scorpius. There were also two 7th years currently on the team, so Scorpius was told he would get a permanent spot the next year. Albus, surprised everyone and became the teams official new beater, while an old one switched to chaser. Albus couldn’t remember every actually playing beater before but all he did was imagine Delphi or Voldemorts face, and them bam, the Bludger went flying. The captain said he was a natural. 

Albus got to play in the last two games of the season. They didn’t make the playoffs, but that was because dumb Hufflepuff had a keeper who was so good he was guaranteed to go pro. But, Albus got to play. His Dad came to one of the games and cheered him on, and he wore a green scarf, and that was kind of nice. 

Fourth year, as it turned out, was okay. They made some friends through art club, and they got some people who would stand up for them through Quidditch, even if they weren’t the best of friends. They still had a lot of glares, and some Slytherin Squib, but they had people now. So when fourth year ended, it was a little sadder than normal, and when fifth year started, it Albus was actually excited for the year.


	2. 5th Year pt.1

The biggest change in 5th year ended up being James. James and Albus had always been just so different. So it wasn’t that they didn’t get along, it was more that they didn’t have anything in common. James was outgoing and cheery and great at everything. Albus, was not. He was quiet and read and doubtful of people he didn’t know. So, they just coexisted in the same space, and then, being brothers, punched each other and stole toys. Looking back, it was surprising to Albus that without James, 5th year might have been completely different. It started a few weeks into the year.

“Albus.” Albus paused at the bottom of the staircase. 

“James.”

“Neve said I’ve been a real tosser to you. So, now that I’m 17 and all, it's time for me to grow up.”

Albus just blinked at him. “Um….Who?”

“Neve.” James’s smile slipped. “My girlfriend. Fergus’s sister.”

“Oh right, he mentioned a sister.”

“Yeah, he’s got two, and a brother. One of them’s a Slytherin actually. You know what’s funny, the littlest just got sorted this year and they got one in each house and Neve was like, why do you give your brother such shit for being a Slytherin. My brother’s his friend you know, and so like,”

“Neve’s that girl with blond ringlet hair like Fergus!” Albus maybe should have listened closer to James’s rant.

“Yes, and she’s pissed at me, which isn’t fun. Plus she might have had a point or two, so I’m sorry Albus.”

“Thanks James.” 

“Let me know if anyone gives you shit and I’ll hex them. I’ve got a great face boil one.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, I can teach you maybe.” James looked a little shy for once.

“Yeah sure.” Albus grinned. “Really thanks. It’s a little better this year, people respect the Quidditch thing a bit so.”

“Great.” James nodded. “I got to go to class.”

“Great.” Albus nodded. “See you around.”

 ************************************************************************************************************

James proceeded to mess everything up on Christmas. Albus was actually looking forward to Christmas this year. He knew his parents were getting him a new broom, which was great, because he had been using an old one of James's and it was all wrong for beating. Albus knew he was small for a beater, but he was having fun with it, and his parents knew it too, so he was excited for whatever beater gear he was getting. Plus, he had been painting tons for art club, so he knew he’d get some muggle paints and canvases too. And, Scorpius was knitting him something. 

Scorpius and art club had been an interesting mix. He bounced around from activity to activity so much that Albus, Ebba, Fergus and Avis had a running betting pool on how long he’d last. Avis was winning. It had gone like this:

Acrylic Painting: 4 weeks  
Charcoal: 3 weeks  
Clay Pottery: 5 weeks  
Watercolor: 1 week  
Paper Mache and Wire Sculpture: 3 weeks  
Panicking because he got an A on a charms essay and needed to prepare for end of the year exams: 4 weeks

Calligraphy: 2 weeks  
Photography: 4 weeks

Then he found knitting. By the time Christmas Hols had come around it had been almost ten weeks of knitting and seemed to have stuck. So yes, Albus was excited for Christmas that year. And then along came James. 

“Who’s that from?” He gestured to the cleanly wrapped box in Albus’s hands.

“Scorpius.” Albus began to carefully pull back the tape.

“You guys exchange presents?”

“Yes?” Albus frowned. “Why?”

“Ron, Hermione and I exchanged presents all the time!” His Dad cheerily contributed. “Why they got me some of my favorite gifts at Hogwarts. This one time in fact-“

“Dad, no one cares.”

“Thanks Lily.” Their Dad sighed and looked at their Mom with that parent look that said why are our kids like this.

Albus pulled a hat and scarf out of a box. He promptly pulled the hat on his head and grinned. “Oh good, it’s nice and warm.”

“Kind of gay.”

“James!” 

James blushed. “I just meant,” he trailed off and his Dad ranted on.

“James, the number one rule in this house is that we do not make fun of people for who they are, or use words like that or discriminate based on something ridiculous like blood or skin or preferences.”

“Boys and Girls can like whatever they want.” His mother continued. “Straight men knit all the time. Why Uncle Percy has been knitting recently, and I think I heard Teddy talking about taking it up. Albus, perhaps Scorpius can teach him. James apologize and rephrase.”

“I didn’t mean it in a bad way, I just meant.” James sighed and stared at the wall. 

“You didn’t mean it in a good way.”

“Thanks Lily.” James glared at her. “Sorry Albus. What I meant to say was, I think it’s nice you guys are such good friends, I just thought knitting is a bit unusual, especially for a teenage boy, but clearly I’ve made an error in my thinking.”

Albus muttered an ‘it’s okay’, but his mind was miles away. All that was running through his head was gay, gay, gay.

 ************************************************************************************************************

Back at school, Albus’s one-track thinking continued. Ebba spent an entire art club drawing fake ink tattoos up his arm and he didn’t even notice. He had honestly just never thought about it before. He was a boy, he’d fall in love and marry a girl. He didn’t even know any gay people! (In retrospect, his self-centered teenage brain was wrong. His favorite Quidditch Player, Aton Burkton was gay, as were their closest wizarding neighbors, Celia and Octavia whom they had over for dinner many times. None of this was a secret.)

All Albus could do was try and figure out what the hell James meant. He wasn’t gay. He had liked Delphi, he really had. Then there was Scorpius. Sure Albus wanted to spend all his time with Scorpius, but that was just because it was Scorpius. They were best friends! 

Maybe the hugging thing was weird. Albus had never quite figured out the hugging thing they decided to do last year. He liked it though. 

Maybe he shouldn’t like the hugging thing. But it wasn’t like he wanted to kiss Scorpius. That would maybe be gay. He had wanted to kiss Delphi. Sure he hadn’t liked anyone since then, but he was probably just turned off since Delphi turned out to be evil. Trying to murder you and your family would put anyone off girls for a little bit. 

Except when Scorpius hugged him and asked what was wrong Albus realized maybe he did want to kiss him, just a little bit. Or at least, it wasn’t an unappealing idea. 

But Scorpius like Rose. He joined Quidditch for Rose. Yeah they didn’t talk all that much, but he still liked her. 

He couldn’t be gay. He was already the Slytherin Potter. He couldn’t also be the gay Potter. Plus, he wasn’t faking it with Delphi. He really wasn’t. 

So really, Albus was in a funk and he didn’t know what to do. 

 ************************************************************************************************************

Albus’s 16th birthday was February 23rd. Scorpius had thrown him a small party in the art room, with his friends and Quidditch teammates and some cousins and even one of his dorm mates had shown up. Albus let himself relax and have fun for the first time in two months. They drank butterbeer and played exploding snap and snuck in tons of Weasley products that resulted in only one trip to the infirmary. 

Hours later Albus was laying happily in his bed. His curtains got flung open and Scorpius literally flung himself on top of Albus.

“Did you have fun?” He bounced around excitedly. 

“It was great Score.” Albus grinned happily. It really was. 

“Oh great.” Scorpius clapped his hands. “You’ve been so off since Christmas and you won’t tell me why but you seemed happy tonight so everything is okay now right? We’re good?” 

“What?”

Scorpius’s smile faltered. “I just don’t know what I did. But tonight you were back to normal. I mean, it’s fine, if you’re a little sad again, we’ll figure it out Albie.”

He looked so sad and Albus was suddenly hyper aware of the fact that Scorpius was somehow straddling his lap and he just wanted him to feel better and maybe he was a little loopy because of butterbeer and heaps of candy and 2 am delirium. So he leaned forward and kissed him.

Then his lips were on Scorpius and it felt great and then he realized what he was doing and pushed Scorpius away so hard Scorpius flew backwards. Albus flung himself out of bed and he ran.


	3. 5th Year pt.2

Albus had been pacing in some quiet hallway trying to figure out where to go when a door appeared. He walked inside and found a tiny sitting room, with a couch, two overstuffed chairs, a rug, and a fireplace with a roaring fire. He crawled onto the couch and fell asleep. 

Albus wasn’t quite sure when he woke up that morning. He heard some students outside, so he figured he was missing classes but he wasn’t ready to go out and face people, to face Scorpius. He couldn’t believe he had been so stupid. He figured he had probably gone and ruin the best thing that ever happened to him all because he couldn’t figure out if he was gay or not. 

He stayed curled on the couch until a pounding began on the door. He walked over to the door and leaned against it.

It was James.

“ALBUS! OPEN THE DOOR” bang, bang bang.

“COME ON ALBUS. IT’S JUST ME” bang, bang, bang.

“I’M NOT STOPPING SO JUST-Oh” James flew into the room and hugged Albus, the door closing behind him.

“What?” Albus muttered from where his head was jammed against James’s shoulder. He wiggled away.

“Do you know how scared I’ve been?”

“What?” Albus sat down on the couch and turned to face James, who was already sitting on the other end, legs crossed, turned sideways to look at him.

“I got woken up at 5:30 in the bloody morning by someone saying there’s a Slytherin looking for me in the hall and then I was like what happened with you and I went and it’s a bloody panicked looking Scorpius shrieking about how you’d gone missing in the middle of the night.” James was significantly paler than normal. “Last time, last time, you went missing there was a dead kid and Voldemort almost came back Albus.”

“I’m sorry.” Albus’s eyes widened slightly, he hadn’t ever thought about what that had been like for his siblings. He figured maybe they didn’t notice. 

“What happened?” James asked, cutting through his thoughts. 

His eyes widened in surprise. “Scorpius didn’t say?”

“No, he was just freaking out.”

“Like angry freaking out? Or more like….” He waved his hand in an all-encompassing gesture, hoping his point would come across. James just frowned.

“He wasn’t angry at all. He seemed terrified and worried sick about where you were.”

“Oh.” Albus whispered.

“What happened?” James nudged his foot against Albus. 

“I kissed him.” He buried his head in his hands unable to look at James. He could just tell his face was bright red. 

“Oh.” Silence entered the room. It did not last long, as often was the case when James was there. “Is that all. Albus, no offense, but it was kind of obvious.”

Albus hands peeled away from his face. “What?”

“I mean, the hugging.” James rolled his eyes. “You could just tell looking at you guys looking at each other.” He bit his lip. “That’s what I meant at Christmas, I mean it was literally gay, cause you were literally gay, I didn’t realize you didn’t realize, and that Mom and Dad didn’t realize.” He shrugged. “I just assumed you all realized that you and Scorpius were like…whatever.”

“Slow down.” Thoughts were swirling in Albus’s head again as he tried to process whatever James was saying. “Mom and Dad don’t know?”

“Please, Dad’s clueless, you know that.”

“True.” Albus shifted. “Mom?”

“Mom, well, she, I don’t know, she clearly doesn’t since she was talking in abstracts at Christmas.”

“Scorpius doesn’t hate me for kissing him?”

James snorted. “No. He hasn’t told me this, but I wager he’d do it again.”

“I’m not gay.”

“Okay.”

“I’ve had crushes on girls.”

“You know you can like both right?”

“What?” Albus never thought of that either.

“You can like both, that’s okay too.”

“What?”

“You don’t have to figure out now Albus. It’s okay.”

Albus stared intently at his fingers.

“We can talk later? But Scorpius wants to know you’re okay.”

“Where is he?”

“Pacing in the hallway outside.”

“Oh.” Albus looked up. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” James stood up and stretched his arms out. “I’ll send him in.”

He walked to the door and slid out. A nervous looking Scorpius came in. He ran to the couch and pulled Albus into a hug, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, I’m sorry, I thought you’d hate me.”

“I could never hate you.”

“I kissed you.”

Scorpius hand’s reach out and fiddled with Albus’. “I didn’t mind. I kind of liked it you know.”

“You did?” Albus inched closer.

“Yeah.” Scorpius closed the gap and they were kissing. They kept kissing. 

 *****************************************************************************************************************************************************

They didn’t manage to go on a proper date until early May.

It was a Hogsmeade weekend and Albus, Scorpius, Ebba, Avis and Fergus were standing around stuffing themselves with the sweets they had just grabbed at the Honeydukes. Scorpius was half sucking a chocolate wand and Albus was trying to not jump on top of him. 

“Lets go to Weasley’s.” Ebba suggested. Uncle George had bought Zonkos and opened a Hogsmeade location. It had quickly become a favorite stopping point amongst Hogwarts students, even if half the products were banned. 

“I want one of those Reusable Hangman.” Avis agreed.

“I think I want a cloud machine.” Fergus continued. “My sister has one, and she says it’s amazing.”

Albus looked at the three of them, and the back at Scorpius. “Actually, Uncle George just sent me some old merch, so I might go get a new quill set. Mine's gross. Scorpius, come with me.”

Scorpius sighed. “But I need new extendable ears. The stupid peacocks ate mine when my Dad took me home a few weekends ago.”

“Scorpius.” Albus sighed. “Do this or I won’t help with Defense.” Scorpius struggled the most with Defense, and Albus had Harry Potter teaching him. 

Scorpius sighed. “Fine, I want a book of blank parchment anyway. Blue leather bound.” He handed some money to Avis. “Would you be so kind as to-“

“Yes, Scorpius.” Avis rolled her eyes and the three of them went off. 

“Why’d you do that?” Scorpius asked. He wasn’t completely clueless.

“Have you seen yourself with that candy?” Albus growled. “We’re going on a date.” He turned and stomped off. Scorpius followed as he led the way to the Shrieking Shack. “My Dad says its not really haunted.”

“We’re having a date in a fake haunted real abandoned shack?” Scorpius grinned as they entered a broken dirty sitting room.

“Everyone always stares at us when we we’re walking. Did you see that old man today, he bowed when we walked by.” Albus sighed. “A Malfoy and a Potter. If we went to Madame Puddifoots or the Kneazle Café it would be in the papers. They can talk in abstracts and you can’t sue. 'A certain son of a certain famous duo was spotted' I just, I just don't need more people talking about us right now. I don't want anyone to ruin this.”

“This is perfect Albie.” Scorpius waved his want and a thick green carpet appeared on the ground, a vase of flowers on a shelf and a broken chair transfigured into a stuffed brown leather couch. 

“We can have a picnic or something.” Albus began to reach into the bag of sweets he had bought. 

“We could make out.” Scorpius said. So they did. They ended up spending a lot of the rest of 5th year kissing. 

So maybe, 5th year never would have happened without James. Maybe it wasn’t all about him. Maybe it was a lot about Scorpius too. And that, that, turned out to be a very good thing.


	4. 6th Year

Sixth Year they decided to keep keeping their relationship a secret. It wasn’t that they were ashamed of each other or anything, it was more an intense fear that their fathers would end up either dead or in Azkaban if they found out. It didn’t help that everyone encouraged this line of thinking. 

Naturally, sixth year resulted in being the year nearly everybody found it. There wasn’t really much they could do, what with Albus having approximately five million family members at Hogwarts and Albus and Scorpius’ inability to keep from kissing in semi-public areas. 

It started, oddly enough, with MollyJ. 

Albus and Scorpius had snuck down to the kitchen one Thursday night in October for some hot chocolate, pumpkin pie (Albus) and pecan pie (Scorpius). They may have gotten distracted with some light making out. The chair and a half the house elves made them was just the perfect size for them to be half on top of each other. 

Unfortunately they were too distracted to notice the door opening, until there was a squeal. They jumped apart, and there standing in the doorway, was a little third year Hufflepuff, with strawberry blond waves cascading down her back.

“Albus?”

“Hey MollyJ,” Albus was trying to act casual, except his tie was on the floor and a button was undone.

“Your tongue was down his throat.”

“Oh, you saw that.”

“Well…” She shuffled, “I couldn’t not see it.” Her gaze shifted. “You’re Scorpius Malfoy. I don’t believe we’ve properly met.” She strode over and held out her hand. “Molly Evelyn Weasley Jr. You can call me MollyJ. Eldest Child of Percy and Audrey Weasely, cousin of Albus.”

“Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, Son of Draco and Astoria Malfoy, boyfriend of Albus.” 

MollyJ squealed again and dropped her hand. “Boyfriend! Actual boyfriend, how lovely. How come I didn’t hear about this?”

Albus sighed. Everybody always knew everything in their family within an hour. “Nobody knows.”

“Nobody knows.” An actual hand flew to her heart. “Not another person.”

“Well, James, he helped us get together.”

MollyJ nodded with a very serious look on her face. “That is understandable. This is such an honour. I can’t believe I get to be second to know.” Albus didn’t bother to remind her that it was exactly a choice. “I can’t tell?” She shook her head. “Of course not, the Malfoy Potter feud is legendary. This year we’re going over Modern Wizarding History from Dumbledore to Dumbledore. We’re still with Grindelwald, but I skipped ahead.”

Scorpius groaned in to Albus’ shoulder. “Merlin one of them will end up dead. Probably Father.”

“I won’t tell.” MollyJ said seriously. “I promised. You’re my family.” She smiled. “If I need to talk to anyone, I’ll just write a letter to James. I’ve been wondering how he's been doing since he graduated anyway.”

“When have you ever talked to James?”

“Every Weasely gathering we make sure to play one round of gobstones.” MollyJ rolled her eyes. “We’re friends Albus.”

“Of course MollyJ.”

She grinned. “Great, well I will leave you two alone now.” There was a twirl of robes and a door slamming shut and then she was gone.

Scorpius burst into laughter. “I think she is great.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yes! She’s going to owl James too. Probably, literally, right now.”

Albus groaned. “Well, that’s it. We have to be more careful now.”

“Of course.” Scorpius nodded. 

“Hey,” Albus grinned. “You called me your boyfriend.”

“You are.” Scorpius hesitated, “Right?”

Albus grinned. “Of course Score, it’s just nice to hear it.” He ran his hand over Scorpius’ jaw. “My handsome boyfriend.”

***************************************************************************************************************************************************

The next few months went swimmingly. Scorpius and Albus continued to do as they please, and their relationship stayed a secret. Over the winter holidays James did mention that he and MollyJ were writing to each other weekly, but he was glad to hear things were going well between them. Which was a little weird, but whatever. Things were fine until early February.

Admittedly, they had made the poor decision to start making out in the very public and open school broom, ball, and general supply closet. They couldn’t have picked the locker rooms, where they would definitely be alone in the Slytherin Alcove, or the showers off the locker rooms where they had, you know, stalls. No, they threw all caution to the wind in the most accessible and open room down by the Quidditch pitch. Later, they would swear no one else was down there earlier. They had been so distracted the shriek was the first they heard of another person. 

“Oh Merlin, I’m sorry.” A voice said. 

Albus pushed Scorpius away slightly.

“Albus?”

Then he groaned, because hell if he didn’t know that voice. He turned his head slightly. “Roxanne.” Then he saw the second person. “And Hugo. Great. Hello.”

Roxanne giggled. “Oh man, this is great.”

“You can’t tell.”

“We aren’t a bunch of narcs.” Hugo scoffed and puffed his Gryffindor chest. “Besides, we don’t want Uncle Harry dead. We like him sometimes.”

“Naw, Uncle Harry would kill Mr. Malfoy first.”

“What are you guys even doing here?”

“I’m helping Hugo so he’s not such a fool on a broom.” Roxanne was the best flier of their generation in the family. She was a 100% going to go play professional Quidditch. James probably could have, had he worked a little harder, but Roxanne was going to, even if she slacked off.

“You are quite the talent.” Scorpius nodded at Roxanne. 

She puffed up in pride. “Thanks Malfoy. I work hard.”

“It shows. I bet you’re already being recruited and you’ve still got what, 2 years after this here?”

She was. “You’ve got yourself a charmer Albus.”

“Yeah, he’s alright.”

“How longs this been going on anyway?” Hugo asked. “Wait, who knows?”

“Almost a year.” Scorpius grinned.

Roxanne’s eyes bulged. “Shit, you two actually like each other don’t you.”

“Well yeah.” Albus rolled his eyes. “Just James and MollyJ.” 

“I knew I should have stolen one of those letters!” Roxanne groaned. “Ah well, now we can contribute.”

“Nothing needs contributing too.” Albus looked pained. His stupid, large, over-involved, nosy family.

“Of course not.” Roxanne said very seriously.

“MollyJ should just be getting out of herbology about now.”

“Great.” They turned and sprinted out of the door.

“Great.” Albus collapsed against the locker. He slid slowly down it until he was on the floor. “Just great.”

***************************************************************************************************************************************************

After that Albus and Scorpius became better at hiding behind tapestries and bed hangings. Albus also used the warding skills he had grown even more. After James found them locked in a car on the train home last year, and threw a fit because it took him, a N.E.W.T student 45 minutes to get through an O.W.L. student's wards, he told Albus to go into warding because he was good at it. So now he practiced his wards and enjoyed time with Scorpius. It was a win-win. 

In May Lily came up to him in the corridor just past charms. The hallways was, as it typical was, filled with students. She came up and looked him directly in the eye.

“Albus.”

“Lily.”

She arched her eyebrow and grinned. “See you around.” The she turned and flounced away, suddenly surrounded by a gaggle of Gryffindor girls. A hand brushed Albus’ arm and he actually shrieked.

“Merlin Sorry!” Scorpius blushed. Of course, they were meeting, as they always did, before charms, one of the few classes they still shared.

“She’s getting suspicious.” Albus said without introduction. 

“Who?” Scorpius’ eyes swept the hallway. “That second year looks pretty shifty.” He pointed at a second year girl who proceeded to turn red and trip over her shoes.

“Scorpius! Don’t point you Nargle. Lily, Lily is getting suspicious.”

“Oh.” He opened the door to charms. “What did she do?”

“She said my name.”

“Right Albie. Super weird.” 

Albus just shook his head and sighed. “You’ll see Score, You’ll see.”

A week later, Lily introduced herself to Scorpius. That would have been okay except 1. They definitely already knew each other, and 2. She stared at Albus the entire time. Even Scorpius had to admit it was a little odd. 

Then they saw her red head peering in the art club classroom. Which was fine if she wanted to join, but less fine because she suddenly ran away. Which was probably because Albus and Scorpius were leaning against each other in a very couple-y way posing for a portrait for a series Ebba was doing. A series of portraits on Hogwarts relationships. They had always been not at all careful with their art club people, because well, they were all friends. Even the ones that weren’t really close with them weren’t going to go blabbing around. Also when they did officially tell them Avis looked at them like they were crazy and Fergus said he hadn’t realized they weren’t out, so there was that. 

Then Scorpius panicked and said they really had to study for end of year exams and this was stressing him out, so could they just talk to Lily please. Towards the Gryffindor tower they went. Their soirée over to the Gryffindor tower was a little…hectic.

“Brother.” Lily had barely finished hopping out the portrait hole before she was straight backed and staring intensely at Albus.

“Sister.” Albus nodded.

Lily sighed. “Look, I know he’s half Hufflepuff and you’re too much off a wimp to do anything but try to remember you are sixth year Slytherins the next time you attack some second year into sending your messages.”

“I didn’t attack him!” Albus glared at Lily. Stupid Lily and stupid baby Gryffindor. 

“I told you not to grab his arm.” Scorpius oh so unhelpfully chimed in. 

Lily rolled her eyes. “Honestly, he nearly wet himself.”

“I didn’t attack him! I just told him to get you.”

Scorpius just sighed dramatically. “I told you to add please. You have to be nice to your inferiors. You might need them later.”

Lily smirked. “There’s the Slytherin. I knew you had in you somewhere, Scorpius. Unfortunately, so do I. So spill.”

“Give me one good reason.”

Lily widened her eyes and loosened her jaw. She blinked and looked upwards and went from almost fifteen to barely 12. “Daddy,” Albus cursed, because while their Mom would see right through her, their Dad was weak when it came to kids. Plus he was utter shit at emotions. “I’m so worried about Albus, he was acting a little off last year.”

Albus sighed. Damn his Dad and his bonding attempts. It was nice, but he would be all over that. It was a good thing he was prepared. He pulled a book out of his pockets. The Young Witches Guide to Love, Relationships, and Sex. He opened it and smirked. Inside crossed out, was Lily + Reeve. Then, in a heart was Lily loves Emmett.

Lily lunged at him and he dropped it back in his heavily warded pocket. “Mom would love this.” Because there was nothing their Mom loved more than trying to educate them. 

“Just tell me!”

“No”

“Tell Me!”

“No.”

“You told everybody but me and I’m your sister.”

“Fine.”

“Well?”

“We’re…we’re like….”

“Dating” Scorpius finished.

Lily punched Albus. “OWW”

“You lied to me.”

“I did not.”

“Yes you did.”

“Go away Lily.”

“Who else knows?”

“EVERYONE, everyone but YOU knew”

It was a good thing that Scorpius was the Slytherin Keeper this year, because he very adeptly caught a flying Lily before she slammed into Albus. 

“Well, you certainly have the Gryffindor brashness.” Lily glared at Scorpius as he set her down. “That said, we really have been trying to keep it a secret. I think all your cousins know now?” He turned to Albus for confirmation. 

Albus just sighed. “No, Rose still doesn’t know, cause that’s awkward as all. Louis doesn’t, and then Victorie and Teddy and Dominique and Fred all graduated already, and Little Lucy starts next year. “

Scorpius just blinked. “Merlin you have a lot family members.”

Albus blushed. “Yeah well…”

“Its great! We can do things together! Do you have family game night? I feel like I would do well at family game night.” He grinned and pulled Albus into his side. 

“You two are disgusting.” Lily sighed. “Do you just not want adults to know?”

Albus shrugged. “I guess. I think most people who know us have suspected. But Dad would like…”

“Try to kill Mr. Malfoy?” Lily grinned. “I think your Dad would win Scorpius.”

Scorpius smiled. “Thanks!”

“Hey! You know, Roxanne thinks Dad will win.”

Lily huffs. “Whatever, the point is I’m not going to tell him.”

“Thanks Lil.”

“Now go away. I have work to do.” As Albus turned away, a gentle stinging hex hit his legs. 

***************************************************************************************************************************************************

Albus decided they were going to sneak out of Hogsmeade the last weekend there. Scorpius had been a bit stressed about the end of the year, and it was his birthday, so they were going to go on an adventure. 

They were going to see a movie in a theater because Scorpius had never been, and really Albus had only gone like twice. Scorpius was thrilled. 

“Are you sure we should be doing this. We will be breaking more school rules you know, and last time that wasn’t a particularly good idea.”

“We’re 17 now.” Albus sighed. “We’re basically adults.”

“We’re sneaking away from a school sanctioned trip.”

Albus scoffed. “Hogsmeade is hardly a school sanctioned trip. We go here all the time. Besides, we prepared this time. I have the apparition coordinates. I have the movie start times. We’re going to a muggle city. Who could we possibly run into? And, AND, this is your birthday present.”

Scorpius sighed and latched onto Albus’s arm. “I guess I have been seventeen for a whole day now.” The tug of apparation pulled and then they were safely in an alley.

“Off with the robes!” Underneath their school robes were carefully picked out muggle outfits. They strolled a few blocks over to the theather, Scorpius nearly jumping up and down with excitement. 

“What movie are we seeing?” He asked staring at the options with his mouth open in awe.

“The Disney one.” Albus went to the ticket window and tried to remember how to order. Thankfully the guy behind the counter seemed like he was about to fall asleep, so it went relatively smoothly.

“None of them said Disney.” Scorpius said as the walked inside.

“No, Disney is the company, so like,” Albus stopped explaining at Scorpius’s face when they walked inside. Then he actually did jump up and down.

“Look at the lights! The colour! Merlin the candy! What is that?” He ran over to the snack booth. “I want all of it.”

“Score.” Albus grinned. “You can’t have all of it.”

“Well I want one of all it.”

“Pick a few and we’ll share.” 

Scorpius sighed. He picked six candies and popcorn and soda. Which was basically all of it. The movie was glorious. 

“We have to go see more.” Scorpius rambled as they left the theater, holding hands. “It was so pretty. There was singing Albie, singing, and then that funny little creature. What are they called again? Do they really have talking animals in the muggle world?”

“No Score, it was pretend.” Albus looked up and his eyes widened. “Are you serious?”

“Yes?”

“Not you.” He pointed to the red head with the pixie cut standing in front of him. “You. I go to a muggle city. MUGGLE. And I still can’t escape you people. I swear to Merlin. It’s just ridiculous at this point. ”

“Hey Albus.” She looked at their joined hands and grinned. “I knew I couldn’t be the only one!”

“What?”

“Scorpius Malfoy. Pleased to meet you.”

He stuck out his hand.

“Dominique Weasley.” She shook his hand. “I knew that I was the only queer kid!”

Albus was surprised. “Wait for real?”

“Yeah you oblivious fool. You haven’t told parents?”

“No. Please don’t.”

“Not my place kid.” She sighed. “Potter, Malfoy, when you do tell, let me know if you need Auror backup." Albus sighed. They probably would. "Anyway, aren’t you supposed to be in school?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be magic?”

“Last month of Auror training we have to assimilate with muggles.”

“Is it the best?” Scorpius asked still all wide-eyed with excitement. “I think it would be the best.”

“Sure kid.” She sighed. “I do technically have to report you. So I’ll close my eyes, and you go back to school.”

So they did just that.

***************************************************************************************************************************************************

On the last day of the school year, they learned that Louis had known all along. Albus had been a little surprised he hadn’t actually, since he was the Ravenclaw cousin and all. 

“Are you bringing Scorpius this summer?” 

Albus looked at Louie, who was sitting on his trunk in the entry hall. “What?”

“Scorpius. The rule is technically of legal age and has been dating for over a year, which you qualify for. I know that mostly gets interrupted as graduated Hogwarts, but if you wanted to you fulfill the requirements.”

The legendary Weasley summer gathering had rules about guests. No short flings welcome basically.

“Oh. Thanks.”

“Granted, if you want to continue the relationship bringing might be counterproductive. I don’t know if relationships could survive both fathers ending up in St. Mungos.”

“No murder?”

Louie frowned. “Nah, they’re both quiet talented from what I hear, and neither are killers. Or so I’ve studied. I would love to meet him actually, get more of the death eater perspective of the war. Obviously the history books tell it from the winner’s perspective. “

“I don’t think he’d like that very much.” Scorpius’s arm slid around Albus as he joined the conversation.

“I’m thinking of becoming a historian. As you know, I’ve just completed my final year. I’ll wait for my N.E.W.T.S. of course. I’m looking into further education. Historian or a Potions Master, I do love Astronomy as well, but I just don’t know how many further develops could be made in the field.” Louis sighed.

“I know what you mean.” Scorpius glanced at Albus. “I’d love to talk further about Astronomy with you, it’s a passion project of mine, although I intend to go into healing. Perhaps we can owl.”

Louis nodded. “Of course. Well, don’t worry. Swear to Rowena that I won’t tell the older generation.”

“Thank you cousin.” And that was that. Their 6th year ended, and basically everyone knew, and they weren’t telling. Which was constantly surprising to Albus, since everyone hated him the first four or so years at Hogwarts. Thank Merlin for Scorpius.


	5. 7th Year

The start of 7th year had the remaining cousins find out. It started with Albus and Scorpius being surrounded by a gang of first years. 

Lucy was there, Albus’s youngest Weasley cousin; Imogene, Albus’s not muggle muggle cousin; Frankie not Francesca and Evelyn, Uncle/Professor Longbottom’s twin girls; Alethea, Scorpius’s cousin; and Lucy Flint, when the girls realized the needed a Slytherin representative to be inclusive, and that Lucy didn’t really have friends. 

“We’ve heard rumors about you two.” Lucy began. 

“We’re dating please don’t tell the adults.” Albus figured at this point it would be fine to just blurt it out. His relationships with his family had actually improved post-Scorpius. He and James wrote monthly. He and Lily had a stinging hex competition going on. The only time they discussed it was when Lily told him having a permanent stinging Hex shield charm was cheating, but it was a great thing. Dominique sent him gay muggle coming of age novels and Louis and Scorpius wrote regularly. He and Roxanne and Hugo chatted occasionally about classes or Quidditch. MollyJ talked to him all the time in the hallways, resulting in a few detentions for being late. She claimed he was happier, smiling more, avoiding people less, and generally more enjoyable since dating Scorpius. It was the Hufflepuff way of saying he had been a bit of a jerk. So, Albus figured telling them would be fine. He hadn’t anticipated six eleven-year-old girls squealing with excitement. 

Evelyn looked close to tears. “Overcoming family for love!” They all sighed. The synchronicity was slightly frightening.

“We’ll protect you.” Frankie added quiet seriously. And that was how the acquired a gang of first years who spent most of the year following them around, glaring at people who said mean things about them, and generally being a nuisance. A lovely kind nuisance, but a nuisance nonetheless. 

Rose was different. Rose and Albus just didn’t get along. It didn’t help that since birth their parents decided they would be the best of friends and constantly pushed them on each other. If anything, it made them dislike each other more. So when she found them one day when they had been lazing by the lake it was less happy sighing and more annoyed sighing. 

“Scorpius!” Rose began. “I realized this year it’s been ages since we’ve talked. We should go to Hogsmeade together next weekend.”

“Um,” Albus glared at him. Scorpius cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, I’m kind of seeing someone.”

“Who,” Rose demanded. 

“Me.” Albus shot back.

Rose sighed. “I knew it. You know, the girls and I were talking about how this is our last year, and we were planning who we’ll be hooking up with and I was like, well I have Scorpius to fall back on, he’s nice enough, and then Maggie got this look and Fi went all red and then I realized you hadn’t flirted with me all last year. I mean, you did for what five whole years-“

“Four.” Albus put in.

Rose frowned. “No, I distinctly remember around Halloween 5th year Scorpius-“

“Scorpius!”

“I was young, I was confused, I was dumb.” Scorpius got louder and more theatrical with each statement. His arms were waving wildly as he leapt up. “You are the only one for me, Dear Albie. I choose you Albus Severus Potter.” He pointed. “Forgive my wayward Rose thoughts. Sorry Rose.” He added before collapsing in a heap on Albus’s lap. 

“Oh, for Merlin’s sake.” Rose sighed. “What is it with Slytherin Theatrics?”

Scorpius lifted his head and looked at her. “We know some Slytherin Quidditch players if you like any of them. Our dorm mates are…interesting. Devon will sleep with anything, if that’s what you want. Braham and Markus are nasty, avoid them, Gabe is okay but rather dumb and overly impressionable, Weston is actually really nice.”

“Weston?”

“Dark hair, kind of short, big into law, hates athletics, rather sarcastic.”

Rose hummed. “Maybe. I need someone who won’t let me bowl them over. I dated this Hufflepuff last year and it was a disaster.”

Albus sighed. “Can we do this later. I wanted to feed the squid with my boyfriend.” He shook the bowl of food the elves had prepared.

Rose rolled her eyes. “Fine guys. See you later.”

She walked off and Scorpius wiggled in Albus’s lap. “I’m sure your heart is set on the squid, but can we go to the locker rooms instead?”

Albus grinned and stood up. “Sure you can apologize for torturing fourteen year old me with your endless nattering about Rose.”

Scorpius grabbed his hand and they ran off. “Deal.”

**************************************************************************************************************************************************

Winter Hols led to Lily accidentally screwing everything up. One day, Albus was going to kill his siblings. 

Three days before they were going to go back, their Dad sat them down in the living room after dinner. “I have an announcement.” He began, in his this will be grand everyone listen, commanding, voice. When he was giving some dumb speech this was fine. It tended to go less well when he was using it on his family. “As you know, I’ve be in the Aurors for decades, and off active duty for quite a number of years.” He looked sad for a moment. “I just can’t run like I used to. But! I’ve decided to make some changes. Next year, I will officially retire from the Aurors…and take over the Defense position at Hogwarts.”

“WHAT?” Albus cried. 

“Sucks for Lily.” James smirked. Why he wasn’t at his own apartment was beyond Albus’s knowledge. 

“NOOOO.” Lily wailed. 

Their Dad looked a little hurt. “I thought you’d enjoy that.” He said.

“They're just surprised Dear.” His Mom said soothingly.

“Yeah Dad.” Albus nodded. “I think it’s great. Shame I’ll miss you.” He glanced at Lily, shot a stinging hex, and grinned. “You taught me my first shield charm.”

Their Dad puffed up with pride. “I did didn’t I?”

“And my first Patronous. I wouldn’t have gotten that without you Dad.” James chimed in.

“Same here Harry.” 

He smiled. “Great. I’m glad you are looking forward to it. I’m really rather excited and-“

“I’m not.” Lily shrieked. “The last two years of Hogwarts are vital Dad! I can’t have you there watching my every move. It’s just not fair. James and Albus got to make out with whomever they wanted and you’ll just be there hovering! You’ll scare everyone off. The great Harry Potter!”

“Lil, I will not be just following you around. I will be teaching and grading papers and generally being busy. But we can talk later if you’re concerned about that. Did you say Albus was snogging someone?”

“No” Lily’s eyes widened for a split second. “James.”

“You said Albus and James.”

“I meant James.”

“Albus?”

“Don’t lie Albus.” James sighed. “He dated this kid last year for like two months. It was a little sad in my opinion, but that’s all Lily means.”

“Why wouldn’t you tell us, Dear?” Their Mom asked. She sounded concerned, which was terrible, because now she wouldn’t let this go. 

“Did I put her family in Azkaban or something?” 

Albus sighed. “No, you didn’t put her family in Azkaban.” Technically, he thought, you put _his_ grandfather in Azkaban. But you pardoned his Father and Grandmother, so that had to count for something.

“A Gryffindor?” His Dad continued hopefully.

“Merlin No!” Albus did have enough sense to get a shield charm up right before Lily’s stinging hex hit. “I mean, I love Gryffindors, just I’m not dating one.”

“Ravenclaw?”

“There’s this new girl in training.” James began, “Mary Ellen, she was a Ravenclaw. It’s a whole different ballgame. I think I might ask her out. Let me tell you, on Monday-“

“Stop.” Their Mom interrupted.

“Yeah James.” Lily chimed in. “Try not to tell us about girls unless you get past three dates.”

“At least I got to date at Hogwarts, unlike you.”

“I will let Lily date from a preapproved list of boys.” Their Dad looked pleased with himself. “I like that. I’ll ask Neville for some help.”

“No, both Lily and James are trying to distract us.” She turned towards Albus. “Why Albus?”

Albus broke. “Because it was a boy okay. I’m the weird Potter and the Slytherin Potter and the gay Potter and the Wizarding world will hate me more okay.” Then he buried his face in the couch cushions. He wasn’t quite sure why he was so upset. He had kind of figured he was over it. He was happy, really and truly happy, with Scorpius. But he also realized the Quidditch Pitch and the lake and the Creevey art room were not real life. That was scary. 

He felt the cushions shift and was then dragged into his Dads lap. It would have been embarrassing since he was seventeen, but he kind of needed it. “Albus,” his Dad began. “We do not care what the rest of the Wizarding world says. You are our son, and we love you more than anything. We do not care whom you date, or what house you are in. You are smart and clever and brave and the most amazing Albus Severus we could ever have wished for. If other people don’t realize that, they’re idiots.”

Albus sniffled.

“Albus look at me.” Albus pulled his head up. His Dad looked so concerned, and his Mom was next to him, one hand on his shoulder. “We love you okay, you understand that right?”

Albus smiled. “I know. I love you too.”

“Good.” And it was. 

************************************************************************************************************************************************* 

Back at Hogwarts Albus and Scorpius discussed finally telling their parents. They were going to do it around graduation, especially since they wanted to get an apartment together, but then a quaffle shattered Scorpius’s arm. It was the match to decided if they’d make it to the playoffs too, which was a shame, because they were really close this year. Roxanne felt bad about it though, so that was good. Albus was already thinking of ways she could make it up to them. He ten options. Eleven if he wanted to be particularly devious. 

They had just convinced MollyJ that she Scorpius was okay and she could leave and they didn’t need some flowers when Madame Pomfry finished with the patient who had been puking. 

She sighed and looked over the arm. “Potter and Malfoy, very interesting.” She muttered as she yanked at Scorpius’s good arm and sighed again.

“What about us?” Albus asked.

“Just glad you two aren’t attacking each other. In fact, other than when the flu went around a couple years ago and that nasty hex your first year I don’t recall you two every being in here. Honestly, your fathers were in this wing constantly. I almost gave them permanent beds. If it wasn’t one it was the other.” She fussed over his arm some more and cast spells that swirled around it.

“Really?” Scorpius looked intrigued. “Father didn’t mention too many visits. Just one about a hippogriff when we saw them at the zoo.”

Madame Pomfry snorted. “All the time. Potter was slightly more incident prone I suppose. In fact, I’ve seen your sibling quite a bit Albus. They’ve clearly got that trait. And look at you two, close despite it all! Its great to see such a connection.”

“Why wouldn’t we be close?” Albus knew their Dad’s didn’t get along and were on opposite sides of the war, but surely it wasn’t bad enough for the school nurse to talk about nearly thirty years later. His Mom had very nearly complimented Mr. Malfoy once. 

“Well just half the time they were in here it was because the other had hurt them on purpose.” Madame Pomfrey shuffled through some potions and handed one to Scorpius. “Honestly those two were like Gillyweed and Erumpent Musk. Exploded when they were mixed. Why back..” She paused. “Well that’s their story to tell. But you boys.” She patted their heads. “So kind to each other despite it all. Your fathers could learn a lot from you.”

“Oh.” Scorpius sighed. 

“Overnight stay for you. Drink that up.” Madame Pomfrey collected the bottle when he finished and walked away. 

“Maybe we shouldn’t tell.” Scorpius said. “I know they’ve gotten better. But.”

“Did they really hurt each other badly?” Albus asked. “I figured it was just a little hex or two.”

“Enough to end up here.”

“How about this. Things are going well yeah? So we’ll just keep it like it is. If they start being weird and annoying and parental, we’ll tell them.”

“Sure.” Scorpius grinned. “Go steal the invisibility cloak from Lily so you can get in here tonight.” 

“Deal.” 

************************************************************************************************************************************************** 

7th year cumulated in a massive party in the Room of Random Things. It had decorated the room to the max. Kids had snuck in firewhiskey and some Hufflepuffs had convinced the house elves to cater. It was glorious. Albus, Scorpius, Ebba, Fergus and Avis were twirling in a circle. 

“Wait you aren’t a 7th year?” Albus slurred out.

Avis sighed. “We’ve gone over this Albus. The door was only warded against minors. I turned 17 last week. Boom.”

Albus giggled and twirled her. “I’m so glad we’re friends.”

“Me too.”

“Me three.” Fergus shouted.

“We’re never coming back to Hogwarts.” Ebba looked traumatized. 

“If you told that to third year me, I would be so happy.” Albus said.

“Now?” Scorpius asked.

“I don’t know.” Albus wrapped his arms around him and the spun slowly in a circle. “These last few years have been great. We came in second or third ever year we played on the Quidditch team. We made friends. The only person who has hexed me in the hall in two years has been Lily. We got to pet the squid once. We get to make out in the Quidditch locker rooms and the Creevey Art Room and the prefect bath when Ebba gives us the password.”

“I shouldn’t have done that.” Ebba sighs. 

Fergus grinned. “But you had to because now I know there are sixteen types of bubble bath.”

Scorpius grinned. “Yeah there are.”

“Ew.” Avis sighed. “Go make out in a corner and get away from us you sappy Slytherins.” 

So they did just that. Things were well.


	6. 1 Year Post Hogwarts

Albus and Scorpius were living together. Moving in together had been an adventure. Their Dads had managed to avoid each other quite nicely on moving day, both with falsely sympathetic ‘Too bad, I’ll catch him next time.' Albus and Scorpius figured if their parents hadn’t figured it out by now they were idiots who only saw what they wanted. Thank Merlin none of them were Ravenclaws. They did have a good laugh from Lily regarding how Albus’s Dad’s teaching experience was going. 

"And I quote. “I just don’t understand why those second year girls don’t like me. Is it a particularly tetchy age or something? I don’t think any of you guys were that bad at twelve. Maybe I was too busy with the Aurors. But honestly, some of my nieces are in there. I ask them a question and the glare at me. Frankie Longbottom went on a rant about the horrors of Azkaban and why you shouldn’t Avada Kadavra people. I think I know that.” Anyway your fan club is vicious Al. You going to tell him soon or what?”

They talked about it and decided that they’d tell them at Albus’s 19th birthday party. They figured their 3-year anniversary was a solid choice. People would take them seriously and they’d have to be nice because they were at a birthday party. Cake, Scorpius maintained, meant that they couldn’t fight. Naturally that didn’t happen.

Like had become tradition Christmas Holidays had gone and screwed everything up. They split for the Holidays, but on Christmas Eve they snuck out of their respective family homes and met up at their tiny little apartment. They swear they set alarms. Scorpius had a strict 10:30 am brunch and Albus had a rough 9 am start to presents. 

At 10:36 am Harry and Ginny tumbled through the floo in their apartment. Not half a second later Draco Malfoy strolled out nary a fleck of dust on him. 

“Potters.” Draco nodded. “What brings you here.”

“We were going to start presents like an hour and half ago.” Harry sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “Albus seems to be missing.”

Draco nodded and checked the time. “Scorpius is now six minutes late to brunch. We have the whole family there, waiting. It’s very embarrassing. An hour and a half you say.”

Ginny sighed. “James and Lily did an excellent job of distracting us.”

Draco grinned. “Ah yes, Astoria…Astoria would often tell stories about her and Daphne and the tales they would tell their parents. As you know I didn’t have siblings. It did seem like I was missing something. I so wanted to give Scorpius one but,” He trailed off. 

“He turned out wonderfully Malfoy.”

“Thank you Potter.” Draco nodded. “Except for his abhorrent time keeping ability.” He sighed dramatically. “I blame the Potter influence.”

Ginny laughed. “As you should.” She turned to the hallway that went to the bedrooms. “Lets find those fools.”

They all went to the same door, and then both Harry and Draco raised a fist to knock.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting my son.”

“His bedroom is across the hall.” Harry pointed to the door opposite. “Have you not been here before?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, this bedroom is bigger and has an ensuite. Obviously a Malfoy would settle for no less.”

“Well yours did. Because this is Albus’s room.”

“Just open the door.” Ginny rolled her eyes. 

Harry glared at them and opened the door. He took in the site in front of him and gasped. Albus was asleep on his back, with Scorpius’s head on his chest and arms around each other. Ginny reached out and shut the door, and them back to the sitting room. Leaping out of the fireplace were James and Lily.

“Oh great, you guys are here, well, our job is done.” James leapt back into the fireplace.

“Freeze.” Harry said.

“What do you know?” Ginny just pointed at the couch and the two of them sat down.

“Nothing really.” Lily said. “I mean would anybody tell their little sister anything? No, no one does. I’m in the dark here.”

Draco snorted. “I have the feeling you know more than they would like.”

Lily shrugged. 

“How long have them been together?” Ginny questioned. 

“Oh you know.” James waved his hand non-committedly

“I thought he trusted me now.” Harry sounded a little broken when he said that.

“He does Daddy.” Lily smiled. “It’s just, you two are known enemies. They thought it was best they delayed sharing the news a bit. No need for an extra St. Mungos trip.”

“We aren’t enemies.” Harry said. 

Draco sighed. “Obviously we can get along.”

“Really?” asked a quiet voice behind them. The adults turned to find Albus and Scorpius standing in the hallway, tucked around each other. 

“Of course!” Harry nodded over enthusiastically. “We’ve never been enemies, just silly school boys, but we can get along. We’ve had fun together in the past.”

“You have?” Albus looked doubtful.

“Sure!” Harry smiled, “Why, we…we…”

“Quidditch.” Draco said. “It was always more enjoyable playing against Potter. I can’t even recall the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw seekers as useless as they were.”

Harry shrugged. “You were always more of a challenge. We can start having some seekers games.” He thumped Draco on the back. Draco jerked forward slightly and stiffened. 

“Do you regularly assult your friends?”

Ginny laughed. “I’m afraid so. Back thumps, arm punches,” she smirked. “No biting thankfully.”

“Potter. I have a pitch we can use. However, Please do refrain from hitting.”

Harry nodded. “Sure sure. See boys. We can get along! We’ll be the best of mates! We love you boys. I think we’ve established we’d do anything for you. We’re glad you’re…” He paused and glanced at Draco. “Dating. No more secrets right?”

Albus slid his left hand, with it’s black and silver band on his ring finger up the sleeve of his sweatshirt just a little more. He glanced at Scorpius, made sure they were on the same page and grinned. It wasn’t like they were getting married soon. They were teenagers for Merlin’s sake. It was more of a promise ring then anything. They wanted to finish their secondary education before any marriage, and that would be about another year and a half for Albus, and another three and a half for Scorpius. If they could keep dating a secret for three years, they could keep an engagement secret for three years. 

A localized stinging hex to his ring finger and a smirk from Lily reminded Albus that one or two members of his family might end up finding out early. Those annoying, nosey Gryffindors. Lily smiled and mimed crossing her lips. 

“We want you to use your names.” Scorpius nodded at his Dad.

“Pardon?” Draco looked confused.

“We’re Malfoy and Potter too.” Scorpius gestured to the two of them. “So we want you to use your names. You can be Harry and Draco to each other. That’s what friends do after all. Isn’t that right Dad?”

“Right.” Draco nodded. He turned to Harry. He stared at him. “Right.”

Harry ginned and held out his hand. “Harry Potter. Pleased to meet your acquaintance. You can call me Harry. All my friends do, and I think we could be good friends don’t you?”

Draco looked down at the hand held steady in front of him. He reached out and took it. “Draco Malfoy. Kindly call me Draco.”

Albus and Scorpius smiled. They were happy, they were in love, and their Dads hadn’t killed each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I've appreciated every like, comment and subscription. I hope you've enjoyed the story. I always find it fun to go back to the world of Harry Potter.


End file.
